Wells Fargo Wasn’t The Only Bank to Open Unauthorized Accounts

A federal regulator determined Wells Fargo wasn’t the only U.S. bank that opened accounts not authorized by customers, but has no plans to identify these institutions publicly. They reviewed 40 banks and found that as many as 10,000 customer accounts opened during a three-year without customer authorization. These new accounts included mortgages, auto loans, credit cards, checking, savings and money market accounts. But they represented only a small fraction of the estimated 600 million accounts the banks opened during the same period.

Customers who were harmed by the practices are expected to be reimbursed “if they can document an account was opened inappropriately,” said Joseph Otting, the U.S. Comptroller of the Currency.

The 10,000 accounts ae a very small number compared to those opened by Wells Fargo. They opened approximately 3.5 million accounts that lacked customer approvals and reached a settlement to reimburse those affected.